The Men's World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) was created by the R&A in January 2007 to provide a fair and reliable means of selecting a field for its amateur tournaments. In February 2011 the USGA endorsed the ranking and uses it as an exemption category in their championships.

The WAGR coverage currently includes more than 9,500 players from over 110 countries, and more than 4,500 ranking tournaments played in over 90 countries.

The WAGR System ranks the top amateur golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in Counting Events on a rolling cycle over the previous 52 weeks. However, unlike the professional World Ranking, which makes adjustments in order to give more weight to recent play, the WAGR weights every performance over the past 52 weeks equally.

In stroke play, the result of every round for every ranked player is entered into the WAGR system; all play is included in order to determine consistency. WAGR stroke play points are assessed per round, not per place finish, however WAGR stroke play bonus points are awarded per place finish.

In match play, the number of players who receive points, and the amount of points received, is determined by the category of the event.

The number of stroke play ranking points, added to match play ranking points, plus stroke play bonus points equals a player's WAGR Points Total.

A player's WAGR position is determined by applying the WAGR Technical Performance formula as follows:

A Counting Event is an event, match play, stroke play or a combination of the two, amateur or professional, selected and approved by the Committee to count for WAGR. Counting Events may be:

• Any stroke play event, decided by gross scores, played over a minimum of three rounds.

• Any match play event, decided by gross scores, played over a minimum of three match play rounds. Stroke play qualifying for a counting match play event will also be included in the results for that event if played over a minimum of 36 holes.

• Any of the Major Championships or any official event from the professional tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours or any official event from other pofessional tours, recognised by the WAGR Committee.

The cancellation of a round or rounds for reasons of weather, safety etc do not necessarily render the event "non-counting".

Each Counting Event has a position on the Event Rating Table based on the strength of its starting field using the number of WAGR ranked players and their positions in the WAGR Top 500. These players contribute rating points that are totalled to determine seven categories of event, as follows

Elite

The Amateur, Asian Amateur, European Amateur and U.S. Amateur Championships (Men's WAGR) and the Ladies' British Amateur, Women's NCAA Division 1, U.S. Women's Amateur and Women's European Amateur Championship (Women's WAGR).

A

Counting Event ranked 1-30 in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

B

Counting Event ranked 31-100 in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

C

Counting Event ranked 101-200 in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

D

Counting Event ranked 201-300 in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

E

Counting Event ranked 301-400 in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

F

Counting Event ranked 401 and higher in any given week based on WAGR Event Rating

Bonus Points

Bonus Ranking Points are awarded to the leading players in stroke play Counting Events in accordance to the table below.

Event Cat.

Winner

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

Elite

48

36

18

12

6

3

Category A

36

18

12

6

3

1

Category B

18

12

6

3

1

-

Category C

12

6

3

1

-

-

Category D

6

3

1

-

-

-

Category E

3

1

-

-

-

-

Category F

1

-

-

-

-

-

75% of Bonus Ranking Points are awarded for 54 hole events. All other events receive full Bonus Ranking Points. In the case of a tie for 1st place, the winner of an actual play-off receives full first place bonus points. For all other ties, including a tie for 1st settled in any other manner (e.g., score card countback), points for ties are totalled and divided by the number of players who are tied.

Divisor

The Divisor is calculated by adding the number of stroke play Counting Rounds to the number of match play Counting Rounds. The minimum value of the divisor is 28 but there is no maximum divisor.

Divisors are added for actual rounds played. If a player misses a cut, no further Divisors are added. However, if a player withdraws or is disqualified, one additional Divisor is added.

August 2012

Note: Because of the great diversity of venues and format, including many match play events, in the Amateur game, the system is necessarily complex, and a full explanation of every detail goes beyond the intended scope of this page. For full details, please visit www.randa.org/en/WAGR/WAGR-System/FAQs.aspx